“Melita is a Unique Story, Such Has Never Been Done in Christian Drama” – Makeup Guru

 

By Oluwafemi Dosu

A make-up and special effect artiste, Evangelist Paul Eniola Aremu, popularly known as Sean Paul has thrown his weight behind the soon-to-be-released movie, Melita, describing it as a unique story, the like of which has never been done in Christian Drama.

This he said at one of the shoot locations of Melita in Ibadan.

He revealed that he has never seen a story like Melita, noting that the movie is a story that would reveal to viewers the pains and the sacrifices endured by the missionaries who brought the Gospel of salvation to Africa.

“I can see that this story is a film that every home must watch. Melita is not just a film, it’s a life, because it tells us what has happened before and what gave us life in Christianity in Nigeria. So, you need to watch this film. From the pre-production stage, it has not been easy. We disagreed a lot and discussed a lot. While showing the Director my concepts, we had to agree, make indept researches, among others, because no one on this set had been born in the 18th Century which this movie portrays. Yet, we needed to do something convincing. We had to study, do some research, and God really helped us.

“I could remember I googled pictures of 18th century but I hardly got pictures of Nigeria or Western region of those years. All I could get on Google was other black countries and continents but not Nigeria in particular. This gave us lots of challenges and disagreements, but we were able to harmonize our disagreements and to this extent we were able to achieve. The script is bulky, though I have other scripts I was working on yet I had to read and analyze the Melita script.

 

“Melita film is very tasking and we thank God. God really took over on the set. He really helped us. At times, I and the Art Director quarrelled. Melita is a film that everybody needs to watch,” he stressed.

Speaking on his relationship with the white actors from England, Aremu disclosed that this is not his first time of doing make-up on white folks. He pointed out that though some people might think that white people don’t need make-up, they actually need it because make-up enhances beauty. He stated that one thing he loved about the white actors in the Melita movie was their friendliness. More so, they saw this project as God’s assignment.

The make-up guru further revealed: “One of them told me she loved the smell of my powder and my brush, while someone else was complaining and that encouraged me a lot. I do tell people that the whites are not like us, we form a lot in Nigeria. I really enjoyed working on this set. The Director is one that communicates his mind to you clearly and expects you to achieve it. At one instance, I had to redo a particular make-up until it satisfied the Director’s desires picture. All crew on this set are fantastic, all actors are exceptionally good because they delivered a lot.”